/**
 * This file is part of 1genia trampoline
 * Copyright (C) 2007 - 2008 1genia (contact@1genia.com)
 *
 * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as
 * published by the Free Software Foundation; version 3 of the License. 
 *
 * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
 * WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
 * Library General Public License for more details. 
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
 * License along with this library; see the file COPYING.TXT.  If not,
 * write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street,
 * Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA. 
 **/

package com.genia.toolbox.web.gwt.form.client.value;

import java.util.List;

import com.google.gwt.user.client.rpc.IsSerializable;

/**
 * interface the represents the identifier of an entity used by the form api.
 */
public interface DataIdentifier
    extends IsSerializable
{

  /**
   * getter for the identifier property.
   * 
   * @return the identifier
   */
  public abstract String getIdentifier();



  /**
   * setter for the identifier property.
   * 
   * @param identifier
   *          the identifier to set
   */
  public abstract void setIdentifier(Object identifier);



  /**
   * returns a {@link DataIdentifier} for a child of the element described by
   * the current {@link DataIdentifier}.
   * 
   * @param childIdentifier
   *          the identifier of the child
   * @return a {@link DataIdentifier} for a child of the element described by
   *         the current {@link DataIdentifier}
   */
  public abstract DataIdentifier getChildDataIdentifier(Object childIdentifier);



  /**
   * getter for the parentIdentifiers property.
   * 
   * @return the parentIdentifiers
   */
  public abstract List<String> getParentIdentifiers();



  /**
   * setter for the parentIdentifiers property.
   * 
   * @param parentIdentifiers
   *          the parentIdentifiers to set
   */
  public abstract void setParentIdentifiers(List<String> parentIdentifiers);


}
